Colonials to Play in Six Early Season Tournaments

WASHINGTON - George Washington head softball coach Stacey Schramm today announced the Colonials' 2013 schedule, which features six early season tournaments, including two at home at the GW Softball Field on the Mount Vernon Campus. The season begins Feb. 8-9 at the Hampton Inn Invitational hosted by Campbell University.

The Colonials will face BIG EAST opponent Seton Hall and ACC foe Virginia, as well as Robert Morris and the host Camels on opening weekend before traveling to Spartanburg, S.C., for a three-day tournament hosted by USC Upstate, where they will take on Bowling Green, Samford, George Mason and the host Spartans from Feb. 15-17. GW will also take part in the Carolina Classic, hosted by the University of North Carolina, where the Colonials will square off against opponents from the Big Ten (Penn State) and Big 12 (Iowa State), as well as North Dakota State and Iona.

"The strength of our February tournament schedule will provide us a quick test, as those opponents will be among our toughest competition throughout the season," Schramm said.

GW opens its home slate on Tuesday, Feb. 26, with a doubleheader against Drexel before hosting the Colonial Classic on March 2-3, with Dartmouth, Bucknell and Seton Hall participating. Following a quick trip north to Baltimore from March 8-10 for the Dawg Pound Invitational, which will be co-hosted by UMBC and Coppin State and includes games against Marist, Princeton, Seton Hall and both host schools, the Colonials will welcome Drexel, Akron and St. John's for the inaugural Capitol Invitational (March 16-17).

Other non-conference highlights include home games against Ohio State (March 13), Princeton (March 21) and Binghamton (March 26), and road trips to Towson (March 7), Mount St. Mary's (April 9) and Georgetown (April 30).

Atlantic 10 Conference play begins on March 24, with a doubleheader at Charlotte, while the A-10 home opener will be April 5-6 against league newcomer Butler. The Colonials will also host Saint Louis (April 7), St. Bonaventure (April 13), Temple (May 3-4) and Saint Joseph's (May 5), and they will visit A-10 power Fordham (March 30), Rhode Island (April 19-20), defending champion Massachusetts (April 21), La Salle (April 24) and Dayton (April 27).

GW will celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the softball program as part of its doubleheader against St. Bonaventure on April 13, and the Colonials will bid farewell to five seniors before their doubleheader against Saint Joseph's on May 5. In addition, GW's doubleheader at UMass on April 21 will present a rematch of the 2012 Atlantic 10 championship game.

"Two of our toughest challenges in the A-10 will be against Fordham and UMass on the road, but we embrace being the underdog," Schramm said. "Our last weekend of play will also provide a lot of excitement, as those four games against Saint Joseph's and Temple could potentially be a huge determining factor in who makes it to the A-10 Tournament."

The six-team Atlantic 10 Championship will take place May 8-11 at the University of Massachusetts. Last season, the Colonials reached the A-10 title game for the first time ever before falling to the Minutewomen.

GW enjoyed its most successful campaign in program history in 2012, producing a nine-win improvement from the previous season for a school-record 25 victories. GW returns 13 letterwinners from that squad, including A-10 All-Rookie selection and team MVP Victoria Valos.